18 U.S. passengers quarantined in Omaha after hantavirus exposure on cruise ship

Eighteen U.S. passengers exposed to hantavirus aboard the MV Hondius were being cared for in Omaha, where federal officials told them to remain at the Nebraska Quarantine Facility through May 31, the 21-day mark of their monitoring period. The unusual scene put a rare viral threat in the middle of a U.S. city far from the ship’s route, turning quarantine into a test of federal coordination, local medical support and family communication.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it issued quarantine orders for two of the repatriated passengers under the Public Health Service Act and federal quarantine regulations. The agency also said three additional cases had been identified in France, Spain and Canada, underscoring that the exposure was not a contained domestic event but part of a broader international investigation tied to travel across multiple countries.

The World Health Organization said the outbreak had reached 11 cases, including three deaths, as of May 13. That tally included eight confirmed Andes virus infections, two probable cases and one inconclusive case being retested. WHO said the first case was believed to have been infected before boarding the ship, likely through land exposure, while authorities in Argentina and Chile continued their inquiries into how the chain of infection began.

European health officials said the vessel was docked in Rotterdam on May 22 and undergoing sanitation. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said passengers and crew came from 23 countries, including nine in the European Union and European Economic Area, and that the risk to the general population remained very low. Even so, the ship’s broad passenger mix showed how quickly a medical event at sea can spill across borders and health systems.

NewsNation reported that the MV Hondius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions, carried up to 174 passengers and 72 crew members, including one doctor. At least one repatriated U.S. passenger had tested positive without symptoms, while another was symptomatic but had not tested positive at that time. Captain Jan Dobrogowski praised passengers and crew for their patience, discipline and kindness during what he called an extremely challenging period. For Omaha, the quarantine brought a distant outbreak into direct local view, with public health officials trying to balance containment, care and the rights of travelers caught in the middle.